The Rise of the Infographic – and what it means for your press releases

February 22, 2012

Every PR or Social Media professional will have noticed the rise of the Infographic in the past six months as one of the main drivers of information to the public but have you ever considered using them as a press release?

An infographic, in case you didn’t know, is graphical representation of information or several pieces of information in the form of pie, bar or other charts including word clusters. They are designed to be eye-catching and informative – to get information over in a pleasing, easy to understand way. Many PR professionals may see them as a fad or a threat but in the same way that you go where the eyeballs are – they can also be used to enhance your current press release distribution and take-up.

Press Releases that contain any interactive material or images have a higher read rate than others purely because of the visual element and an infographic takes this to an even higher plain. It will cut straight to the heart of an issue and a message and save you several paragraphs into the bargain.

They can simplify complex information and are eminently shareable, another key advantage in the Social Media age, giving added longevity and relevance to your release.

Another fact to consider is that even the greatest press releases are formulaic to a point whereas the Infographic is by nature, individual and hasn’t yet settled on a defined ‘right’ way to do it. Even if you are not a designer or an artist, you can still use the idea of the infographic to present information in a visually stimulating way.

For example, if you have any of the following to write about:

in-depth statistical data

survey results

comparative research

multilingual messages

dry, hard to hook messages

Then consider placing the information into an infographic and seeing how that will then inform your writing. The multilingual dimension is an important one as a translated release will have far less impact than the universal impact of pictures!

Not every release is appropriate or relevant for this approach but set yourself a challenge – in the next six months, pitch your client or team an infographic release as an alternative and see not only where it takes you creatively but also with your message.